The Home of New and Exciting Authors

Rudling House is a boutique publisher, working closely with our very talented authors, dedicated to producing high quality novels, inspirational true life stories and beautifully illustrated fun and educational children’s books. All books are available to purchase through the website.

The Guitar Man – Sam Li

The Guitar Man – Sam Li is the inspirational story of a man who left his humble Caribbean roots in 1959 and travelled to the UK in search of a better life with nothing more than some cabinet making skills and a love of playing jazz guitar to his name.

However, a few years after arriving in London as part of the Windrush programme, his life changed forever as he found himself at the epicentre of an exploding music scene. As musicians’ demand for guitars increased through the ’60s and ’70s, Sam Li carved a niche for himself as the go-to gut for repairs and set up in London. Along the way he not only became associated with some of music’s most iconic instruments (Peter Green’s ’59 Les Paul Standard ‘Greeny’ to name just one), but he also built a select number of bespoke guitars himself – to a level of craftsmanship rarely seen nowadays.

With fascinating input from family, peers in the London music scene and, of course, the musicians whose instruments he worked with, The Guitar Man tells the life story of a principled, mysterious and somewhat revered character from the music’s halcyon days.

‘Sam Li, the only man who knew my guitar better than I did’ - Francis Rossi, Status Quo

‘I plugged Greeny in and, after maybe six seconds, I realised that it was such a unique guitar in terms of sound’ - Kirk Hammett, Metallica

Fergie’s Fledglings

Fergie’s Fledglings is the most comprehensive and unique record of its kind, telling the story of Manchester United’s successful and prolific youth system through the eyes and words of the players who experienced it.

The most prominent ‘Fledglings’ of the first wave in the late 1980s describe the foundations and how Sir Alex Ferguson tried to work from the blueprint of the vision Sir Matt Busby had for Manchester United; members of the class of ’92 give unique insight on how and why that team achieved so much success, and a whole host of names share how Ferguson managed to move with the times with youth development as United evolved into the biggest club in the world.

‘Essential ‘ – The Guardian

‘Fascinating and extremely well researched’ – The Times

Archie the Ghost Hunter and the Rising

A spooky ghost story for ages 9 plus from the ‘Most Haunted’ lady herself, Yvette Fielding.

The Embers of Juniper Slaide

The second book in the Juniper Series trilogy.

Natasha Shelby can’t think of anything worse than being stuck in dreary Shackleston for the summer. School is over, and while her friends plot their escapes to university, and her family holiday without her in Portugal, Natasha feels left behind. Is she the only girl in the world without a plan?

Desperate to find a new challenge and conquer the boredom of a slow summer, she decides to help out at the Castle, where her old friend Juniper is rebuilding her home.

But Natasha gets more than she bargained for. She’s convinced there are secrets hiding behind the Castle walls, and she’s determined to get to the truth. Why does she feel as though there are eyes are watching her, whenever she’s on the Castle grounds? What is Juniper’s weird Aunt hiding? And where on earth is Lucy Creed? The more she digs, the more she uncovers and nothing is as it seems.

And Natasha has secrets of her own…

The Burning of Juniper Slaide

Juniper Slaide is the sole survivor of an arson attack that destroyed her home and killed her family. Nine years later she’s worked hard at putting the past behind her. She clings to her best friend James, the only person she’s been able to trust since the fire.

But one day James disappears.

Juniper tries to find her friend, but she uncovers more than she bargained for. As tensions grow and friendships are tested, she begins to realise that James wasn’t who she thought he was.

And worst of all his disappearance is connected to her somehow, and what happened to her all those years ago …

Amazing review of Juniper from The Book Bag

Juniper and James are best friends, but their friendship is more intense than most, even though James’ father is in prison for murdering Juniper’s family. Most outsiders would consider their relationship toxic, but for painfully shy Juniper, having a close friend who can make decisions for her and speak on her behalf is her comfort blanket. So for now, it’s James and Juniper against the world. Well, it would be, if James hadn’t gone missing. Now Juniper feels guilty. She was the last person to see James alive and they had a terrible argument. Now Juniper is all alone and exposed, with nobody to shield her from the scary outside world.

The Burning of Juniper Slaide is one of those You’d better clear your schedule… books, because it is so engrossing, so all-consuming that I guarantee that anyone reading will not be able to put it down until finishing the final page. There are so many things about the book that make it the perfect read: the unreliable narrator, the ‘whodunnit’ element, intense paranoia and plot twists aplenty. The author toys with her readers, creating a certain impression of each character before blowing the reader’s perception to pieces. Bad becomes good, good becomes bad and we feel disoriented, dizzy and confused; not sure who to trust. After all, can we even trust our narrator, with her swiss-cheese memory and deep psychological scars?

The shifting sands of the plot line mean that we can never be quite sure that our preconceived ideas about each situation or character are completely correct. It’s a delightfully vulnerable situation to be in as a reader. The action never skips a beat; the story twists and turns at increasingly jagged angles until the final denouement, before completely pulling the rug from beneath the reader’s feet just as we start getting comfortable.

I cannot praise this book enough and although it is aimed at the YA market, I think that people of all ages would enjoy the storyline. I’d love to read more by this talented author. This is quite easily the best book I’ve read all year.

Two Clouds and a Cough

The fourth book in the Cloud Academy Series by Clare Nasir, illustrated by Ana Carloto O’Shea, launched to a sell-out crowd at the Hay Festival!

A Slippery Secret

The second book from Sarah McDermott finds sisters Emma and Sophie plunging into a magical underwater world where they are transformed into beautiful mermaids. They meet up with their old friends Gerald and Colin and soon learn that the peaceful kingdom is under threat from their old enemy, Finley Fartwhistle!

Coal House

The first novel acclaimed writer Wayne Barton is getting some great reviews:

A little while ago, I was contacted on Twitter and asked if I would review Coal House by WS Barton I’ll be honest; this is not my usual type of story… but the blurb on Amazon had me hooked. It’s the story of a man named Finn and his wife who are small time property developers. After a disappointing deal on a house, they decide to go away for a weekend, to Wales. Here they stumble upon an auction, and end up buying a house. And that’s where the story gets creepy! Finn’s wife Clara travels back to London to clear up their affairs, while he heads to begin work on the property they’ve just bought. It’s isolated and abandoned, and almost immediately strange things begin to happen. He begins to wonder who and what are real, as he learns more about the history of the house and its abdandonment. Clara eventually joins him and the story – of the couple as well as that of the house – unfolds further.

I found this book scary and enthralling in equal measure. I would say it’s more psychological drama than out and out horror; I had to stop reading it at night because it was freaking me out a little, causing my mind to wander! I found the writing a little too wordy for my taste; I tend to go for the Stephen King school of thought when it comes to how many words will do. I think that’s more my personal taste than the quality of the book though, and the fact I kept reading (when I have launched a book across the room for less) proves the story is worth it. If suspense and psychological drama are your cup of tea, you’ll probably love this book; it’s different to any other book in that genre that I’ve read before and is definitely worth a read – Vicky Charles

Begg to Differ Launch

There was only one place to hold the official press launch of Ally Begg’s book, Begg to Differ, and that was the Sir Alex Ferguson Lounge at Pittodrie, Aberdeen FC’s home ground! A wonderful time was had by all. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Ally with Jim Craig and Derek Adams

Steve the Stratus

Following on from the success of her first book, Colin the Cloud, Steve the Stratus is the second book in the Cloud Academy Series by Met Office trained BBC weather presenter Clare Nasir. Beautifully Illustrated by Ana Carloto O’Shea.

Steve the Stratus cloud is stressed – his job is to drizzle, which makes everything grey and dreary. Luckily his best friend Lisa has plans for a fabulous new career. But will this be enough to brighten up Steve’s day? A funny and colourful story of friends following their dreams. The tale provides a wonderful insight into the workings of weather.

Victor the Volcano

We are delighted to be publishing Victor the Volcano by Dougal Jerram. Dougal (aka ‘Dr Volcano’) has been picking up rocks since as long as he can remember. He has a BSc in Geology (Cardiff) and PhD in volcanic rocks (Liverpool). He currently holds a professor II position at the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED) at the University of Oslo and is a CBBC presenter for the science series ‘Fierce Earth’. Dougal is passionate about understanding our dynamic blue-green planet, and sharing that knowledge in writing, broadcasting and teaching. A keen outdoor enthusiast, he has travelled the world in search of answers to its geological past and its active present, visiting many of the Earth’s extreme regions from Antarctica to Africa and beyond.

Beautifully illustrated and brought to life by David Erdos, Victor is an island in the Mediterranean sea with high hopes. He wants to be a VOLCANO and burst with fiery pride, but how? He must go on a journey of discovery to find out the secrets of how volcanoes dance and sing. This tale follows Victor on a colourful and explosive journey that introduces children to the wonderful world of volcanoes and where they are found.

Noisiest Band in the Land

We are so excited about Noisiest Band in the Land, by Mark Nasir, a vibrant, colourful book aimed at Pre-School and Reception children!

Mark Nasir has spent his adult life writing and performing. Back in the 90′s it was all about indie music, sweaty venues and songs of angst. Now in his forties he still performs most days of the week but to a much different audience….Toddlers. He runs his own children’s entertainment business…Piccolos Music Club. And it is at his Music club where he finds the inspiration for his stories. Each tale has been tried, tested and fine-tuned on the youngsters that attend his daily sessions. His stories are either performed in song or have a musical theme.

His first book, The Nosiest Band in the Land is a royal tale, with a punk rock twist. A delightful book illustrated by Lloyd Lugsden which will appeal to both adults and children alike.

A great day was had by all at the Science Museum

Story Time at the Science Museum with Clare Nasir and illustrator Adam Stanway was a roaring success. Clare and Adam captivated the large crowd of young children with an energetic and fun filled reading of Colin the Cloud. Whilst Clare introduced the clouds, Colin, Arif, Vince and Electra and what they do, Adam was on hand to bring the characters to life with his drawings. We had some fabulous artists amongst the children who got to get their cloud drawings signed by the illustrator himself. We even attracted the attention of Jeffery Archer! Clare also had a chance to catch up with her ex-GMTV colleagues, Kate Garraway and Kirsty McCabe who added their support.

Waterstones Wilmslow